Americans like never before are going to restaurants in attempts to save time and money. This begs the question, should I buy groceries or eat out? The consumer price index puts the annual spending of groceries down by roughly 28% and annual spending on restaurants up by nearly 10% in the past twenty years.
The fact of the matter is that eating out has become a large part of our society and it has never been easier to do. With fast food around every corner and restaurants popping up on every block, it is easy to imagine why we spend so much time eating outside of the home!
So what does it really cost when you eat out rather than prepare a home cooked meal?
The Argument for Buying Groceries
Spoiler alert: buying groceries and eating at home is better for you. I am sure this comes as no surprise, but sometimes it is best to actually look at why this is the case. Are there times it makes more sense to go to a restaurant or get fast food? Sure! But the majority of the time, home cooked wins.
The Price for Flavor
As you can probably imagine, a restaurant’s number one priority is flavor. If you are not in love with the food then why would you come back? This leads to prioritizing taste over health. Excessive sugar, salt, and calories everywhere you look!
The long term consequence of this is poor health, which leads to high medical costs. Not only are you overspending to eat the food in the first place, you are shooting your future self in the foot with huge bills!
If you prefer to eat out because it tastes better, take a look at what you cook at home. Cooking is a skill just like any other, so the more you practice the better you will get. Get a little more practice in and perhaps you will find you start to enjoy your own cooking more than your favorite restaurants.
The Price for Calories
One of the largest complaints (or arguments for!) eating out is getting your money’s worth out of it. What does that even mean? I have caught myself saying it plenty of times. The typical meal at a restaurant will be enough to box up an entire serving or two to take home with you.
What happens when you order something at a restaurant that is three times as much as you are supposed to eat? It is simple math: you overeat. Even though you will hopefully take home the extras, the sheer amount of food in front of you will distort just how much is appropriate to eat and you will overdo it.
Not only will you overconsume, the large majority of these calories will be nutritionless, empty calories. Our bodies are fairly good at self regulating, as they have for thousands of years, and they know when we have had enough to eat. The problems occur when there is essentially nothing in the food you are eating. You might consume a thousand calories in one sitting, but if there is no nutritional value then your body hardly considers you full.
When you cook at home, you remain in full control of just how nutrient dense your food is. Even if you choose less than ideal foods, at least you are aware of it rather than leaving it in the hands of someone else. However most people tend to err to the side of healthier than not when cooking for themselves.
The Price for Time
It certainly feels like it, but are we really saving time when we go out to eat? Think about it, how long does it actually take to drive to a restaurant, wait to be seated, order, wait for the food to be prepared, eat, pay, and drive back?
This is not time savings, this is effort savings. I would even argue the effort to go to a restaurant is comparable to just cooking for yourself.
The average time a restaurant expects you to sit at the table is an hour and 45 minutes, not including the wait to be seated! I cannot name many meals I make for my family that takes longer than half an hour to prepare. Even for the meals that have to sit all day cooking, with proper planning there is very little prep or wait time.
The Argument for Eating Out
So what about those times where it makes more sense to eat outside of the home?
The Cost of Convenience
No surprise, someone else cooking for you is more convenient. There is something certainly magical about giving away all the responsibility of thinking about cooking and just focusing on eating.
If you work incredibly long hours or travel for work, the convenience compounds on itself. Finding time to actually go shopping if you already have a full schedule is tough, and hoping wherever you are staying has kitchen essentials is risky.
The Spoon Theory makes for a good case for eating out. If you physically do not have enough energy, or spoons, to cook for you and your family, then if eating out gets you through the day so be it.
The Cost of Variety
Without major work up front or a genuine joy for grocery shopping and cooking, it is incredibly difficult to have a vast variety of home cooked meals. I personally know how to make a total of maybe three home cooked meals well that don’t come out of a box. Don’t blame me, I’m an accountant not a chef!
When you go to a restaurant, you are presented with the opportunity to expand your food horizons to things you either can’t cook or haven’t thought to cook. This of course assumes you don’t order the same thing from the same restaurant every single week.
Variety is the spice of life. Sometimes you want spicy, sometimes you want plain. If you need spicy but cannot cook it yourself, have someone else cook it.
The Cost of Relationships
While you can certainly bond over a home cooked meal (and teach children good habits in the process!) if what you really need to do is talk then going out to eat makes things easier as you won’t be trying to cook in the process. There is something about eating a meal that brings people closer even if it is subconsciously.
This is especially true for professional relationships. I am not about to invite a client to my home to feed them! It has been proven people act more agreeably after they have eaten, so if given the opportunity it is beneficial to eat with those you have the potential to do business with.
Should I Buy Groceries or Eat Out?
Deciding whether you should cook at home or eat at a restaurant is not always a simple decision.
As a general rule of thumb, buying groceries and cooking for yourself is cheaper, takes less time, and is better for you in the long run. You are ultimately responsible for what goes into your body, so you are more likely to make good decisions when you are the one cooking.
However, there are times when a restaurant is the better decision. Specifically, when you do not have the mental energy to deal with cooking, you want to try a new dish and are not confident in your abilities, or you just need to talk with someone either personally or professionally without interruptions.
Ultimately the decision depends on the circumstance. Take some time and think before you eat out the next time and see if you could instead cook for yourself. If the situation does not truly demand it, get cooking.
